Header construction for heating elements



Feb. 9,1960 H. MALKOFF 2,924,433

HEADER CONSTRUCTION FOR HEATING ELEMENTS Filed April 14. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR M v ,v

ATTORNEY$ Feb. 9, 1960 H. MALKOFF HEADER CONSTRUCTION FOR HEATING ELEMENTS Filed April 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ,KZ ATTORNEYS United States Patent HEADER CONSTRUCTION FOR HEATING ELEMENTS Hyman Malkotf, Levittown, Pa., assignor to Kramer Trenton Company, Trenton, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Application :April 14, 1953, Serial No. 348,745- 5 Claims. cram-154 This invention relates to header construction for heating. elements and, more particularly, to headers used in hot water heating systems, and still more particularly, in such systems of the up-feed type; and has for an object to produce such a construction which automatically provides for the escape or removal of air as it tends to accumulate, especially in the upper part of the outlet header thereby preventing the formation of air pockets with the consequent logging of the heating element and causing one or more of the heat radiating tubes or conduits to become wholly or partially ineffective.

Another object is to provide such a construction which eliminates'entirely the need for the usual air chamber and manually operable valve for the storage and periodic removal of air that accumulates in the heating element.

Another object is to provide such a construction which is extremely simple and inexpensive, and requires no operative attention whatever.

Another object is to provide such a construction which does not call for any change in the form or structure per se of the radiating conduits, or fins, or the inlet and outlet headers connected therewith.

Another object is to provide such a construction which is equally available regardless of which header is used for the inlet, thereby facilitating elimination of installation problems,

Another object is to provide such a construction which is equally adaptable Whether the heat radiating tubes or conduits be straight or sinuous; and, likewise, regardless of the number of such tubes or conduits embodied in the heating element, or their arrangement in vertical or horizontal series.

another object is to provide such a construction in which the mode of operation is based upon a principle at least in part analogous to the venturi tube principle of operat on.

A further object consists in providing certain improvements in the form, structure and arrangement of the parts whereby the above named objects, and others inherent in the invention, may be effectively attained.

Generally considered, the invention envisages the provision in the outlet header of an open ended tube of comparatively small diameter which has its upper end near the top of the header where the velocity of water flow is comparatively low, and its lower end near the bottom of the header where the velocity of water flow is comparatively high; so that the water after traveling through the heat radiating tubes or conduits 'flows downwardly along the outside of the said tube and creates a reduction in pressure at the lower end of the tube which causes air accumulating at the upper end of the tube to be drawn downwardly therefrom and ejected at the lower end along with the water flowing thereby.

Practical embodiments of the invention are represented in the accompanying two sheet drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 represents a side elevation, partly broken, of a hot water heating element having a'vertical series of 2 four sinuous tubes or conduits connected at their ends with inlet and outlet headers;

Fig. 2 represents a top plan view, partly in section, of the structure shown in Fig. 1, taken in the plane of the line 11-11, and looking downwardly as indicated bythe arrows; I

Fig. 3 represents an end elevation, partly. broken, taken in the plane of the line III-III of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. '4 represents a broken end elevation, partly in section, showing a modified form of heating element havinga horizontal series of straight tubes or conduits;

Fig. 5 represents a top plan view, partly in section, of the structure shown in Fig. 4, taken in the plane of. the line V-V, and looking downwardly as indicated byv the arrows; and h Fig. 6 represents a vertical section taken in. the planev of the line VI-VI of Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Heating systems for dwellings, and the like, include, as is well known, systems in which heated water is forced through piping and through individual heat radiating elements positioned in the several rooms of the dwelling; the said heat radiating elements commonly consisting of a plurality of tubes or conduits connected at their ends with manifold-like headers so that the hot water may be forced into one of the headers and caused to flow therefrom through the several tubes or conduits and to discharge into the outlet header for return, with or without passing through other heating elements, to the source of heating and recirculation therefrom. In these systems there has been an ever present difficulty arising from the collection of air in the form of a pocket especially in the outlet header, which pocket of air has wholly or partially prevented circulation of the hot water through one or more of the tubes or conduits and, correspondingly, impaired the heat radiation output and designed effectiveness of the heating element. This difiiculty has caused these systems to have their heating elements provided with air chambers for receiving and storing the air accumulated in the header, which chambers are connected with manually operable valves so that the air can be periodically discharged therefrom; which provision has not only complicated the construction, but has required manual ob servation and attention and, even so, has not entirely pree vented the pocketing of air in the header with consequent reduction in the output efficiency of the heating element.

Referring to the form of the invention illustrated inv Figs. 1-3 of the drawing, a stack or series of four heat radiating conduits are denoted by 1, 2, 3, 4, each of said conduits being composed of suitable material such as copper, brass or aluminum, and being sinuous in form as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The conduits are provided with radiating fins, some of which are shown and denoted generally by 5, the said fins being likewise composed of appropriatematerial such as copper, brass or aluminum, and preferably consisting of continuous sheets so that each fin is common to the three runs of reaches of each conduit, and is also common to all four conduits as represented in Fig. 3; suitable openings being provided through the fins for the reception of the conduits and suitable means being also provided for insuring good thermal contact between the fins and the conduits as well as uniformity in spacing of the fins and rigidity in the positioning of the fins on the conduits, all of which.

leading from a suitable source thereof, such as' any an the header.

proved form of hot water'heater designed for use in heating systems. The ends of the conduits are desirably fixed in the header 6 so that they are flush with the interior thereof. The outlet ends of the said conduits 1, 2, 3, 4, are similarly fixed in' an outlet header or manifold 7, which has its upper end closed and its lower end formed for connection with a pipe leading either to another heating element or back to the source of hot water. The arrows on Fig. 1 indicate the direction of movement of the water.

The characteristic feature of the present invention consists in a relatively small air venting tube S that is housed within the outlet header 7 and is secured in position by soldering or otherwise suitably fastening its upper-"end to the inside of the said header. The tube 8 preferably extends nearly to the top of the header 7 and'its upper end is sliced or beveled off so as in effect to elongate the opening to its interior; the face of the "bevel beingtoward the conduits 1, 2, 3, 4. The lower end of the tube 8 extends below the lowermost conduit 4; and it will be observed that the said tube is slanted in its relationship with the outlet header 7 so that the downward course of the tube converges to the center of The material of the said tube may also properly be similar to that of which its header is composed and, while the precise relative sizes of the tube through conduits 1, 2, 3 and 4, from which latter it empties into the outlet header 7 and pursues its course either to another heating element or back to the source of hot water. The ingress of the water into header 6 naturally forces some air ahead of it which passes through one or more of the conduits and tends to lodge at the upper end of the outlet header 7 where, if it were not for the tube 8, the air would log the header and have the effect of closing or partially closing the uppermost conduit 1 with some corresponding effect on one or more of the lower conduits. Such an effect would, of course, eliminate or restrict the heat radiating function of the conduit or conduits wholly or partially closed by the air logging and militate against satisfactory results in the use of the heater. This undesirable condition is obviated by the tube 8 because, as the water from the conduits fiows downwardly through the outlet header 7, and

"in itsdownward travel wholly orpartly surrounds the tube 8, a decrease in pressure is established at the lower 'end of the tube due to the relatively high velocity of the water at that point, as compared with its velocity at the ,upper end of the tube.

This causes the tube to suck therethrough the air accumulated in the upper part of the said header, which air passing through the tube flows along-from the outlet header with the traveling water. The principle involved in this action is akin or analogous to that of the venturi tube although the tube 8 in this construction does not partake of the double conical form of the venturi. The operation of the tube is initiated as soon as any air accumulates in the outlet header and is automatically continuous with the result of preventing the occurrence of any injurious air pocket in the header or any injurious air logging effect upon any of the conduits 1, 2, 3 or 4.

The beveled form of the upper end of the tube 8 facilitates the drawing of air thereinto and the downwardly slanting course of the tube converging toward the conduits brings the lower end of the tube to about a central position within the header and permits thorough envelopment of that portion of the tube by the downwardly traveling water in spite of the fact that the upper end of the tube is fixed to the wall of the header.

While the header 6 has, in the foregoing description, been designated as the inlet header, and the header 7 the outlet header, it will be evident that connections could be so made as to reverse the functioning of the said two headers, with header 7 becoming the inlet and header 6 becoming the outlet, in which case the tube 8 would be installed in the header 6 as indicated in dotted lines in the drawings. This desirable characteristic, which greatly facilitates the solution of installation problems, is promoted by the symmetry of the construction of the heating element or unit and, indeed, if conditions should so dictate, the tube 8.could, be duplicated and one installed in each header so that the construction would be reversible with respect to its installing without any predesigned arrangement touching the location of the air venting tube.

Turning now to the modified form of the-invention depicted in Figs. 4-6, the tubes or conduits of the heating element are denoted by 9, 10, 11, 12. They are shown as straight, arranged in a single horizontal plane, and fittted with the usual radiating fins indicated generally-by 13.

The inlet ends of the said conduits pierce and are suitably secured in one sideof an inlet header or manifold 14, being preferably flush with the inside of the header. The ends of this inlet header are closed, but it is formed with centrally disposed collars 15 and 16 that project upwardly and downwardly from its top and bottom, the top collar being closed by a threaded plug 17, and the bottom collar being interiorly threaded, or otherwise properly formed, for connection with the hot water supply pipe, not shown. The'outlet ends of the conduits are likewise fixed to and in an outlet header or manifold 18, that is similar to the inlet header, with a central collar 19 on its top that is closed by a screw plug 20, and an interiorly threaded collar 21 on its bottom for connection with an outflow pipe, not shown. It should be observed that both headers are reversible in the sense that'the supply and outflow pipes could be connected to their tops instead of their bottoms, and also in the sense that the inlet header could become the outlet header and the outlet header become the inlet header. This reversibility broadens the adaptability of the structure for answering differing installation requirements.

In this form of the invention, the air venting tube is marked 22, and it is shown as positioned centrally within the collars 19 and 21 of the outlet header 18 and passing through the header at a point intermediate the conduits 10 and 11. The venting tube is also shown as 7 fixed, as by soldering, to the plug 20. If desired, how- 1 shown in Figs. l-3, the mode of operation follows the same principle. The water enters header 14 at the collar 16, as indicated by the arrow, flows through conduits 9, 10, 11, 12, empties into header 18, and flows out through collar 21, as again indicated by an arrow. The outrush of water at comparatively high velocity past the lower end of venting tube 22 reduces the pressure at that point and causes any air trapped in the header at or above the conduits 912 to be drawn through the tube 22 and ejected along with' the flowing water. Should there be any occasion for reversing the fiow of water when installing the system, the venting tube could be positioned in header 14.

The disclosure of this invention herein has been directed to an exemplification of its utility in hot water heating systems of the up-feed type; but it should be understood that the invention is not limited in its field of application to such a system, as it is suitable for employment in any system in which there is a tendency to the creation of an air pocket having a choking or logging effect upon the flow of liquid medium and hence an injurious effect upon the eificiency of the heating or other form of heat exchange element or unit. Likewise, the invention is not restricted in its suitability to any particular form or size of header or fluid conduit; being based upon a principle of general applicability in the automatic venting or eliminating during the operation of the system of air or other gas which might, through collection or pocketing, inhibit complete and satisfactory functioning.

It will be understood that various changes may be resorted to in the form, structure, arrangement and material of the parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; and hence I do not intiend to be limited to details herein shown or described except as the same may be included in the claims or be required by disclosures of the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. A heat exchange construction designed for the flow of a temperature aifecting fluid therethrough from an inlet to an outlet comprising, a plurality of open ended heating conduits, an inlet header connected across the inlet ends of the conduits, an outlet header connected across the outlet ends of the conduits, each of said headers having one end closed and the other end open for the ingress and egress respectively of the fluid to establish a flow thereof through the construction, and an open ended continuously acting air venting tube without the heating conduits but within the outlet header so positioned that its end toward the open end of the header is at least partially surrounded by the fluid passing through the outlet header, and in which one end of the tube is located between the closed end of the outlet header and the heating conduit nearest thereto.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, in which the other end of the tube is located between the open end of the outlet header and the heating conduit nearest thereto.

3. A construction as defined in claim 2, in which the end of the tube between the closed end of the outlet header and the heating conduit nearest thereto lies closely adjacent the said header and the other end of the tube lies approximately at the center of the header.

4. In a hot water heating system provided with an upfeed riser, a heat exchange construction comprising, an inlet header having one end closed and its open end operatively connected to the said riser, a plurality of open ended heating conduits having their inlet ends connected with the inlet header and extending laterally from the latter, an outlet header connected with the outlet ends of the heating conduits, said outlet header having one end closed and its other end open to serve as an outlet, and an air venting tube positioned without the heating conduits but within the outlet header with one end of the tube adjacent the closed end of the header and the other end of the tube adjacent the open end of the header, the parts being so constructed and arranged that the fluid flowing through the outlet header will cause relative reduction in pressure at the end of the tube adjacent the open end of the header as compared with the pressure at the end of the tube adjacent the closed end of the header for continuously withdrawing through the tube air collected at the closed end of the header as the fluid passes out through the open end.

5. A system and heat exchange construction as defined in claim 4, in which the inlet header is substantially coaxial with the up-feed riser and its open end serves for the ingress of fluid from the riser, both headers are similar in form, the heating conduits are arranged in substantial parallelism, and the ends of the said conduits are connected with" sides of the headers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,710,811 Dewald Apr. 30, 1929 1,781,511 Hawkins Nov. 11, 1930 1,940,964 McIntyre Dec. 26, 1933 2,487,484 Simpelaar Nov. 8, 1949 2,639,900 Schaefer May 26, 1953 

